


It's a Love Story (Baby Just Say Yes)

by vix_spes



Series: The Model and the Spy [7]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Community: merlin_writers, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Romance, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-19
Updated: 2014-02-19
Packaged: 2018-01-13 03:00:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1210228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vix_spes/pseuds/vix_spes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Booked for a shoot in Venice, Gwaine decides to pluck up the courage to do something he’s been thinking about for a while.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's a Love Story (Baby Just Say Yes)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ronsoftie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ronsoftie/gifts).



Gwaine couldn’t help but panic internally as he did one final check around the room before he went to meet Leon at the ferry point. This had all seemed like such a good idea when he had first thought of it only now he was starting to second-guess himself and whether or not this was a good idea. Why did he think proposing to Leon was a good idea? Why did he have to propose at all? They had been absolutely fine all of this time without getting married so did they really need a ring and a piece of paper? Gwaine had always regarded people who felt this need to get married with more than a bit of derision; he simply couldn’t understand it.  
  
He knew what had started him thinking about marriage; it was all Merlin and Arthur’s fault. As soon as the ban on gay marriages had been lifted, Arthur had set about arranging the perfect proposal – something that all of their friends knew about and that Merlin knew nothing about. He had had a ring made and organised an evening identical to their first date. Although this time Arthur came armed with flowers and a ring, ordered champagne and the dessert Merlin loved and didn’t insult Merlin’s ears. Arthur had then proceeded to walk Merlin along the Thames, just as he had on that first date before getting down on one knee and popping the question. Of course, Merlin had said yes and they had all gathered to watch the happy couple tie the knot last summer. It had been then that Gwaine had first thought about what it would be like to marry Leon. He had always been against things that were expected of him and, once you had been in an established relationship for a long time, marriage was an expected institution.  
  
It had got Gwaine thinking though and the more that he thought about it, the more he liked the idea of being married to Leon. Decision made, his next dilemma had been when and where to do the deed. A meeting with a potential client in Islington had seen him take the huge step of buying a pair of matching wedding rings. An impulsive decision yes but Gwaine had always been an impulsive kind of guy. He wasn’t entirely short how it worked with engagement rings if it was two guys getting hitched – Merlin had got one from Arthur but then that was them – but an engagement ring didn’t seem quite right for him and Gwaine somehow. Rings bought, the next issue was when and where to do the deed.  
It was Morgana who came through in the end and solved the problem. Gwaine was increasingly working as a photographer rather than a model, only doing a few select shoots for certain people. Morgana was one of those people so when she phoned and asked him to do a shoot for her latest collection, there was no way that he was going to refuse. Particularly since the shoot was in Venice, a city that Gwaine loved from previous trips. As Valentine’s Day would fall in the middle of the week when Gwaine was working, in an attempt to sweeten the deal, Morgana had offered to pay for Leon to fly out for a long weekend so that they could enjoy the boutique hotel that the shoot was taking place in. Gwaine would have been stupid to say no and he definitely wasn’t stupid.  
  
It had been easier than Gwaine had expected to persuade Leon to take a long weekend and to actually get clearance to take the weekend. From then, all he had to do was tell Morgana and she organised all of the flights and ensured that they had a room for the extra few days. Morgana had sent him an email with details of the hotel and, even knowing Morgana as well as he did, Gwaine was impressed by how perfect the place was. The only two people who knew that Gwaine was intending on proposing were Morgana and Merlin and Gwaine couldn’t help but wonder how much Morgana had been influenced by his looming proposal in her choice of hotel. The photos looked beautiful; cream paintwork and decorative wrought iron on the outside, Murano glass chandeliers, flock wallpaper and heavy damask furnishings inside all in rich shades. It had all seemed absolutely perfect and Gwaine had stopped feeling quite so terrified about what he was going to do. He was actually starting to look forward to it.  
  
Once the shoot was over, the hotel staff had been more than happy to assist Gwaine in getting everything that he needed. He had the feeling that the women working in reception loved a good romance and they were over the moon at the thought of Gwaine proposing to Leon. They had organised for a chilled bottle of champagne to be waiting when they returned to the hotel as well as a ‘surprise’ and they had laid rose petals on the bed covers in the shape of a heart. Gwaine had pulled a face at that, thinking that it was maybe a bit too much but, judging from the diatribe in Italian that he received, nothing was too much when you were proposing. He just hoped that Leon would feel the same way.  
By the time Gwaine made it to the pier at San Marco, the nerves were back with what felt like a whole flock of butterflies fluttering around his stomach. Whilst he had been looking forward to this moment all week, unable to wholly concentrate on the shoot, now all he wanted to do was get it over with. Even stood by the canal, he couldn’t stand still, constantly fidgeting and not even the beauty of St. Mark’s Basilica or the Doge’s Palace could hold his attention. It seemed like hundred ferry boats came and deposited their passengers before finally a tall familiar figure was stepping off the ferry, gold highlights glinting in his hair as a result of the setting sun. The nerves seemed to disappear, at least temporarily, as they greeted each other with a kiss and strolled through the piazza towards the hotel only to reappear with a vengeance the second that the hotel came into view.  
  
They made their way up to the room in silence, the small square box burning a hole in Gwaine’s pocket. He opened the door and let Leon enter first, walking into Leon’s back as he stopped still the second that he caught sight of the petal-strewn bed. Gathering his courage, Gwaine closed the door behind him and took a deep breath as Leon moved further into the room, leaving his case by the door. As Leon walked around, taking in the en-suite with its Jacuzzi, the bottle of champagne chilling on the table with what looked like a plate of chocolate-dipped strawberries, Gwaine took the box from his pocket and dropped to one knee.  
  
The wait for Leon to turn around seemed interminable and the nerves were definitely back as Gwaine opened the box to reveal the matching bands. The instant Leon turned around, his jaw dropped and Gwaine gave his best attempt at a grin, even though it was somewhat tremulous.  
  
“So, um, you obviously weren’t expecting this but ever since Arthur proposed to Merlin, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that being us. I want to marry you, I want you to be my husband so, um … will you?”  
  
“Will I?” Leon parroted, looking rather befuddled.  
  
Gwaine resisted the urge to panic. Leon wasn’t normally this stupid – far from it – he was just shocked; Morgana had warned him that this might happen. Trying desperately not to babble or stutter, he repeated his question.  
  
“Will you marry me?”  
  
Yet again, the wait seemed agonising – as if time had actually temporarily stopped – before Leon was tugging him up off his knees and into a breath-stealing kiss, pulling back just enough to whisper “yes” against Gwaine’s lips before leaning in for another searing kiss. It takes several long minutes for the fact that Leon has accepted his proposal to sink in. In Gwaine's defence, Leon does this little trick with his tongue that has the capacity to utterly destroy Gwaine's brain function. When he does finally comprehend that Leon has said yes, the happiness bubbles up into laughter which makes kissing rather interesting until they both break apart.  
  
"Yes?" Gwaine's question is breathless from both the kissing and the laughing.  
  
"Yes, you idiot. Have all those hairspray fumes finally damaged your brain? Did you honestly think I would say no?"  
  
Gwaine was a bit embarrassed by that question and the combination of fond amusement and teasing in Leon's voice so turned his focus to Leon's neck in an attempt to hide his reddening cheeks, hands roaming Leon's back. Leon obviously had no objections from the way that his hands found a grip on Gwaine's arse. The box with the rings in had long been forgotten, discarded somewhere on the floor during their kiss.  
  
"Why don't we celebrate in the jacuzzi? We could take the champagne with us?"  
  
Gwaine had to take a step back at Leon's words. Both of them would happily initiate sex it was just that the suggestion of jacuzzi and champagne has always been much more likely to come from Gwaine and Leon. It actually threw him for six and, considering he was still in shock that Leon has said yes, it took him a while to answer.  
  
"I've got a table booked for us. At a little restaurant in the square. The lady in reception helped me book it."  
  
"So unbook it or change the reservation I'm sure nice lady in reception will help you with that as well. I'd rather eat you."  
  
Gwaine gave Leon an unimpressed look but Leon was unrepentant. "What? You propose to me in Venice with rose petals in the shape of a heart, chilled champagne and chocolate strawberries but I can't say a cheesy line?"  
  
"Yes, yes I know how cliché and cheesy it is. Could have been worse, it could have been _Paris in the springtime._ " Gwaine affected a more feminine tone and fluttered his eyelashes wildly, earning him a smack on the arse.  
  
"Git. Did you miss the part where I said yes? Yes, it's cliché but I don't care. You've been dating me for how long now? You know I'm a romantic sap. Now, can you please phone and change the reservation as I would quite like to celebrate our engagement with sex."  
  
"You're awfully bossy tonight, Mr Cameliard. I think I like it." Gwaine waggled his eyebrows comically as he turned to phone down to reception.  
  
Normally, Gwaine can make himself understood in Italy. Or at least he used to be able to. It was only on this trip that he realised that it had been a long time since he worked in Italy and even longer since he actually had to speak Italian leaving him distinctly rusty. He could still get by in conversation but he was far from being at the standard he had once been at, particularly considering the rapid fire speed that a lot of Italians spoke at. The man who owned the restaurant where he had the reservation was one such Italian and while Gwaine could have made the reservation if it was just a normal dinner, he had needed help to convey the importance of this dinner. Of course his ability to speak coherently wasn't normally hampered by the fact that he had his rather amorous six-foot boyfriend plastered against his back, nibbling and kissing his neck and generally just trying to get him out of his clothing. By the time he had managed to haltingly explain that they needed to change the reservation, Gwaine's shirt was the only thing he was still wearing and even that was hanging open. Leon was no longer plastered against his back but was lying naked on the bed. Or at least Gwaine assumed that he was considering he had seen Leon's boxers end up on a chair out of the corner of his eye.  
  
Turning around, he took in the sight in front of him. As he had expected, Leon was completely naked and hadn't bothered to pull back the duvet so was sprawled over the rose petals. Any other time, Gwaine would make some kind of joke about American Beauty but not now. He had plans for this evening and he intended to stick to them.  
  
"We've got an hour."  
  
Leon smiled, one hand reaching out and tangling in the hem of Gwaine's shirt. "We'd better get on with it then."  
  
As Gwaine was pulled onto the bed by an eager Leon, he saw the champagne and chocolate strawberries sat on the table and reached for them. There was no sense in letting either of them go to waste. Neither man had been averse to a bit of experimentation in the past and chocolate tasted delicious licked off Leon's skin; Gwaine couldn't see that adding strawberries and champagne to the mix could be a bad thing. Besides, he's always had a bit of a fantasy of licking champagne off Leon's cock.

**Author's Note:**

> If you would prefer to comment on LJ, you can do so [here](http://vix-spes.livejournal.com/157045.html)


End file.
